Now, it’s either you are thinking, “It’d be so stupid to go on a water fast while in college and working part-time,” or you are thinking “Wow! What a great and possibly healthy way to lose weight or become more spiritually involved,” and either way, I would be telling you that you are correct.
For those who are into extremes or starting to get on that poor train ride to unhealthy ways to lose weight, this might seem great, but this piece will be my warning to those people.
My all too grand experience: I started off the day with water. I backed that up with some more water. And then I watered myself with some more water at the end of the day…Okay, but seriously, this is no walk in the park.
At the beginning of the day, I felt I could do it. I’m not water guzzler, but I definitely do try to drink at least one or two cups of water a day (which honestly isn’t enough so do not follow my example).
By the middle of the day, the dread started to creep in. I walked down to the dining hall with my friend (the best place for a water fast), and well, I had water. My friends, of course, stared in disbelief, and I etched a smile on my face as they shared an all too delectable plate of greasy fries. The crunch was almost enough to unravel me, but like a soldier on a battlefield, I marched on. After my first class, I felt fine: proud that I had looked past the fries just minutes earlier. The second class also went back in a jiffy, however, it definitely all went downhill from there. At 4 p.m. I would have to get to work and guess where work was? The dining hall.
Walking back and forth from my classes was already making me dizzy, and by the time I got to work, the stomach aches from the lack of food were starting to get to me. Still, I smiled because if you don’t have positivity, what’s the point? The few people I told there about the fast gazed at me with as much confusion as my friends had, except one of them was actually scared. At that, I began to wonder whether it really was worth it, but I had told myself I was going to get through three days of this (and as you can see from the title, I failed). As if that wasn’t enough, my knees kept buckling, and I was working ice cream…glorious ice cream.
The real issues came up once I got back to my room and took a shower. I “did” my homework and lay in bed pretty much groaning in pain. My muscles felt weary and cramped up, my heart felt like it was beating faster, and everything just felt completely wrong. Falling asleep was more like falling into an eight-hour daze. A few times, I got up to pee and could barely walk straight, my head pounding at the same beat of my heart. I could feel everything working to keep me conscious, and if that’s what they meant by a spiritual awakening, I can’t say I liked it very much. When I woke up the next day and could barely move, I decided that was it. I was exhausted, my heart was still beating extremely fast, my head was aching and my limbs moved like rusted machine parts. I cut my fast with a cup of green tea with honey, burning my tongue in the process. The honey was enough for me to get back to myself a bit, glucose serving to be extremely important in the process of creating energy. And with that, I went hesitantly to my first class of the day.
Now, after that horror show, I am no expert, but I definitely do have some advice for the curious.
First of all…Figure out why exactly you want to water fast. If it is simply to lose weight in order to look better, not for self-confidence, but for those around you, you should probably take a step back. Start out with positivity, put a sticky note on your mirror to remind yourself you are beautiful, if you are feeling terrible remember it may not just be your physical, but also your mental health that is causing that. Give yourself days off. Especially as a college student and a female, I understand that it may get overwhelming at some points. All the partying isn’t looking too good on your body, but it may also be hurting you mentally as well. Find a balance.
Second of all…DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT work or work out or do anything too active while water fasting. And if you cannot help it, then definitely do not jump straight into a water fast. Your body cannot adjust properly if you are using up stored fats and muscles while not adding to those storages. You really do not want to figure this out the hard way. I am no dietitian, so I will not be giving you any pointers on what fasting you may want to do right before a water fast, however, we do have the all mighty Google.
And lastly…Do not push yourself too hard. If you simply cannot handle going on the water fast, again, reevaluate why you are doing it. There are many ways to get into a healthy diet or feel more spiritually inclined. And if you fail once, it does not mean you are going to fail over and over again. If you want to keep at it, keep at it, but not at the sacrifice of your well-being.
In addition to this, I’d prefer if you looked at this from a distance, because again, I am no dietitian or doctor. Definitely speak to a physician before ever trying any sort of extreme fast or diet, especially if you already have any medical issues.